The Original Art Was Imitated!
Years before AI (and before the computer’s digital process) there was the risk of one’s commercial artwork being copied, by hand, by another artist who could promote it and win the sale.
Joe Mathews:
Capturing the spirit of a band and the music inside a new album, not to mention the interest of the buyers, is what cover art is all about. When the Gold Mine album became available in March 1975, the artwork was an eye-catching feature. No one beyond the band’s inner circle however, knew the design adorning the album was a modified version of the original watercolor by artist Dick Moore. Following a titanic test of wills, the final decision was to use the imitation, by artist, Steve Rahn.
Dick Moore’s art was not used for the album, but it was for other purposes, including (I’ve been told) the band letterhead and business cards.
I know that since then, I have seen his art used for other purposes. There have been multiple versions over the years. I can tell you that the coffee cups, t‑shirts and posters that I used for the fundraiser were all Dick’s!
2026- Joe Mathews has written:
“Home Grown in Marin — The Sons of Champlin”
This chapter tells of the 1970s:
The Iconic “Sons Of Champlin” Logo
“And then there’s Dick Moore, who did a lot of our art. What a neat man, such a neat guy. Dick Moore was a cool guy.”
—Julie Haas
Joe Mathews:
When Dick Moore first crossed paths with the Sons in the early 1970s, he was already an acclaimed watercolorist and commercial graphic artist. Receiving his formal training at Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in the late 1940s, he made several stops before moving to the Bay Area in the late fifties to partner with fellow artist Fred Meinke in an advertising venture in downtown San Francisco. Among his other talents, Moore’s fierce sense of humor was on regular display in much of his work.
Despite their business success, Moore’s thirst for the creative propelled his free spirited bohemian sensibilities away from commercial advertising and towards the fine art side of graphic design. In the mid to late sixties he concentrated on poster art for San Francisco’s hip community before relocating in 1970 to a sizable property outside of Forestville, in Sonoma County. Several families, including John Barrett’s, called it home and it was here that he designed and painted the iconic Sons of Champlin logo for the band.
The Sons logo, original artwork by Dick Moore
Dick Moore:
It was a beautiful spot called The Farm and was located in what was known as the Emerald Valley. The place was owned by Bob Emory, and there were two houses and a barn. JB lived in the barn with his wife, and they already had one little girl, and then another boy. We had my second daughter there and we were in a cottage behind the main house. By then Bill [Champlin] and his family had moved up to Forestville, and on occasion we’d stop by one another’s places to visit. He had given me a guitar, and I remember my mother was up there one day when he came by. She had heart problems and was resting on the bed, and Bill picked up the guitar and started playing for her. I remember her saying, “Please, don’t stop”, and he didn’t for quite a while. It was a nice time up there. We got on very well, and he was a lovely man. A lot of the guys in the band were around then, and I enjoyed them all.
Having taken an interest in Sufism, I was fascinated with artistic expressions that aligned with spirituality, especially mandala design.
Dick Moore’s 1967 collage art collaboration with photographer Loren Gillette.
I was doing mandalas at the time, Indian mandalas, and that’s why it’s a square with corner pieces. That’s part of the design. The rolling hills back there, that’s Marin County. It was a watercolor, and I stretched it out on a piece of wood. I was into that mystic kind of culture at the time, and I was reading a lot about sufism. A lot of us were into Sufi readings, and that’s where the inspiration came from. I had met Wally and Julie and was asked to do some artwork for them, including the office stationary and a logo for the band. They were absolutely wonderful people. Wally was different, an unusual guy. He brought in a lot of money for the band then, but he also helped a lot of artists after that too. I really enjoyed them both.
Joe Mathews:
As the resident artist, Julie had taken the lead in selecting Dick Moore to do the cover art, and was thrilled with his finished piece. At the last minute however, Jim Preston submitted a version that he insisted was an even better fit for the cover. His friend, local poster artist Steve Rahn, had created a modified version of Moore’s original and he pushed hard to use it. While everyone in the band admired Moore’s work, no one else’s emotional investment came close to Julie’s. Loving everything about it — the mandala design, the vivid textures, and watercolor aesthetics — she was aghast when Preston intervened to change it.
Steve Rahn’s modified version
Julie Haas:
And that’s when I had a huge fight with Preston over it. We had Dick Moore’s artwork, the mandala that he did. Just a great piece of art. I thought that was going to be the album cover and so did everybody. But Preston had a friend who created this pop art version of Dick’s work. And when he said he was serious, that he wanted that version to be on the cover, I just thought, no way. I couldn’t believe it. And boy, we just fought like crazy over it. A monumental battle. Because in my role too, I’m on the business end of everything. I worked with a wonderful printer who had done a perfect job of recreating Dicks subtly colored work. In those days you paid a lot for plates and there could be variation in quality, and we had already paid for all this work. And this was our own album, we weren’t with a record company that was going to underwrite the cost. What we were doing was a very unusual thing to do, and this was the direction we were going to go. Then all of a sudden, this other thing happened.
Steve Rahn’s poster advertising Quicksilver, and the Sons at the Avalon, November 29 – 30, 1968.
Joe Mathews:
Steve Rahn was a talented local poster artist with some quality commercial work under his belt. Although Preston liked Moore’s original, he was convinced that Rahn’s version would be more appealing for the record cover and lobbied all out for using it. Despite Julie’s passionate appeals, he eventually prevailed.
Julie Haas:
I loved Preston, sure. He was smart and talented, and he could be very funny. But if you disagreed with him, man, it didn’t matter what you had to say because he could manufacture an argument for anything, and keep coming with it. And he would do that until he wore you down and you had to surrender. And on my end especially, because I had to account for the money, I had to hold my ground. But boy, Preston was the worst. He could really rev it up and he and I would get into it sometimes, mostly because he’d want more money. I remember one time I was so exasperated, I finally just said, “Okay, fine.” And I wrote out a check. And on the back side I drew a big penis and I wrote, “Eat this”. So when he got to the bank and had to turn it over to endorse it, that’s what was staring him right in the face (laughter). He was pretty hot about it, but it was all I could do just to shut him up, you know? Geez. But on the art work though, somehow I finally just lost my power in it, that’s what happened. I think probably Champlin eventually wound up going along with it and then so did everyone else .
But darn, it just seemed so wrong. As an artist especially, my sensibilities felt so violated by this, because Dick’s art was so great and it would have been so perfect for this record. It’s funny, even after all this time, just talking about it can still bring up how pissed I was over that one. I mean, we had t‑shirts made, business cards. It was beautiful. But you know, in the end, Dick Moore’s original logo is the one everyone still sees. So how’s that for irony?
2017- The Birth of the Book
Ann Thompson:
In 2017, Joe Mathews visited us in Santa Venetia, San Rafael, CA and interviewed Dick about his times with Bill Champlin in Santa Cruz and the Russian River’s ’“Pocket Canyon” days”.
Dick’s ‘70s painting for the Sons, was perfect for the cover of his book as a reflection those times.
When being asked to present a cover design, Dick and I visited this event at the deYoung in SanFrancisco:
for our source for the cover background:
We found that the colorful image on a wall to be the right “look” for the times. We offered this cover design, (That isn’t me taking a photo, but that is what I did. I took photos of the psychedelic rock concert liquid projections.)
2026- The Book Cover
Now, Joe Mathew’s book is soon to be printed and
Dick Moore’s painting will be on the cover of:
“Home Grown in Marin” — “The Sons of Champlin”
Joe Mathews:
The book’s printer is Luminare, (in Eugene, OR). They’re a “boutique” publisher, basically self-publishing.
They jumped in on the book cover and will provide registration/ISBN, etc., and other marketing/distribution services. We’ll also have an e‑book available.
Ann Thompson:
Recently, Joe digitally sent me the front and back cover of his book.
Once again, the original had been replaced by another version, probably for “marketing” purposes. We felt that the Son’s logo (Dick’s watercolor) should follow the title — -reading together as a full sentence. The printer chose type faces that are easier to read, but in the ‘70s, posters were almost un-readable. If our chosen typeface wouldn’t work for the spine of the book, our smaller, second typeface, would have.
Yet they did keep Moore’s original art and the background.
And as Dick would say, in his easy-going way: “Yea!”
Joe Mathews’ Explanation of the change:
Hi Annie–
I anticipated your disappointment about the design change on the cover, believe me. The publishers argued that their version with the different and bolder font would catch more eyes on a bookstore shelf or on amazon where it will be available. Your design is more purely artistic, but I wasn’t going to argue with them about it. The essence of your design (Dick’s art and the background) is what’s most prominent, and that’s important to me.
Ann Thompson:
Soon there will be be a ”Sons Reunion” and the original, Bill Champlin, will be there!
And he will not be replaced by another version.
Here is the official Sons homepage:
https://www.billchamplin.com/sons-of-champlin
Ann Thompson, with thanks to Joe Mathews